MLS

Sacramento Soccer Draws Interest of NBA owners

This week Sacramento Kings president Chris Granger and Sacramento Republic FC owner Warren Smith will meet with MLS officials and discuss their interest in taking the Sacramento club up to MLS. Sacramento Mayer Kevin Johnson is also expected to attend the meeting on Wednesday.

These reports are coming in after the Republic beat Pittsburgh in a sold-out crowd of 8,000 fans, shattering the USL PRO mark. The season attendance for Sacramento Republic now stands at 118,107 which is 5,359 more tickets sold than the previous record set by 2015 MLS expansion franchise Orlando City SC in 2013 of 112,748.

“Clearly the support for the Republic has been noticed by all of us,” MLS executive vice president of communications Dan Courtemanche told the paper. “It’s been incredible what we’ve seen week in and week out.”

This summer’s World Cup has drawn much attention to Sacramento, one of the most invested North American markets. MLS Deputy Commissioner Mark Abbott went deep into the topic of the league’s potential expansion stating: “Obviously, there are a lot of really wonderful things going on in Sacramento. The market itself is a really great market. But what’s been happening with Republic has been a really good news story.”

As of right now Sacramento group hasn’t been able to speak to MLS Officials. A MLS spokesperson denied to comment when questions were asked about this development during All-Star Week.

Sacramento officials hope to formally schedule a visit for MLS officials to the region in the near future. By the time the visit is scheduled they hope to have a new ownership group and a stadium plan in place when the MLS Board of Governors meets in September.

Things can move quickly in smaller leagues, and MLS is all about growth. Other cities who have been in the MLS expansion talks include Miami, Las Vegas, St. Louis, New York, and Atlanta.